Team CGC Trading Cards Placed Top 16 in the Pokémon Arlington Regional Championships!

Team CGC Trading Cards continues to triumph in the 2023 competitive season, with two team members making it to day two of the tournament. With over 1,200 Master level competitors in attendance, the Pokémon Arlington Regional Championships at the Arlington Convention Center in Arlington, Texas, on December 16-18, was the largest regional tournament to date.

Representing Team CGC Trading Cards, Azul Garcia Griego placed 9^th (11/2/2), Caleb Gedemer placed 72^nd (9/5/1), Daniel Altavilla placed 223^rd (5/3/1) and Kidd Starck placed 234^th (5/3/1). All players earned Championship Points, and Caleb joined Azul in qualifying for the 2023 Pokémon World Championships eight months early.

After a successful showing at the Toronto Regional Championships two weeks prior, Team CGC Trading cards continued to use and modify their Lost Box Deck strategy in this tournament. The Espeon VMAX card proved to be a powerful counter to paralysis at Toronto, so to combat this and the still rampaging Luiga VSTAR, the team swapped out Zekrom for a Vivid Voltage Zeraora. Changing to Zeraora kept the use of the Choice Belt item for a one-hit K.O. but was more efficient by costing one less energy than with Zekrom.

Due to the difficulties that the team previously faced in Toronto against Mewtwo V-Union decks, the Lost Origin Drapion V card was added to their deck as a counter. However, very few players opted to use Mewtwo V-Union at Arlington, and the team used it in conjunction with the Boss’s Orders trainer card to further counter the Espeon VMAX matchup. The team has also considered removing the Celebrations Kyogre, but ultimately kept it for Arlington.

Team CGC Trading Cards was assembled by Danny Oesterreich in 2022, and is comprised of seasoned players Daniel Altavilla, Azul Garcia Griego, Caleb Gedemer and Kidd Starck. The team will compete next at the San Diego Regional Championships, at the San Diego Convention Center, in San Diego, California on January 6-8.

Please join us in wishing the team the best of luck throughout the season and keep an eye out for new updates on the team’s performance by following CGC Trading Cards social channels, @CGCcards. You can also watch the events live on the Pokémon YouTube and Twitch channels to see players do battle.

To learn more about Team CGC Trading Cards, click here.